With pre-mature babies, the nurses and doctors try not to over stimulate them. They tell you not to stroke or pet his skin to just lay your finger or hand there and they specific times they perform certain things to keep him content and not over stimulated. For Cooper it is 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. what Tom has called "Touch Time." We are able to get hands on with taking his temperature, changing diapers and feeding him some breast milk.

The first time we were able to do it, I was too nervous. I stood on the sideline and allowed Tom to take over which was fine, because I was so nervous. He is so tiny and fragile I was almost afraid to break him or hurt him. Of course Tom was happy and ready to go he go into the incubator like he was a perfect 40-week baby. I watched and thought about it. About we are about to embark on the biggest journey of both of our lives and while we thought Tom being gone was tough or the "hardest thing" we would go through, it's amazing that in that little time all of THAT hurt and pain goes away and THIS is so much bigger than us. It is so much bigger than the little letters we exchanged, the short phone calls - we have a son. A beautiful son that deserves the best in the world and we are determined to do that for him.

The next day I built up the courage to feed him some milk on a cotton swab. While he is getting some breathing help through a venilator, Cooper does love to try to suck on the swab. When we are in his room he reacts to our voices, begins to kick and stretch a little more, a blessing. Touch time is something that will be very important to little Cooper and being able to bond as much as possible with us at this time.